76 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 93 



From the evidence revealed by all cross-sections made in excava- 

 tions I, 2, and 3, the following interpretations seem justified. First, 

 that the upper foot of soil over the area in question is of natural origin 

 and has accumulated since the site was abandoned. This is indicated 

 by its uniformly unmixed nature. Second, that the mixed soil over 

 the general site from a depth of 12 to 24 inches, approximately, had 

 accumulated during the period of occupancy. This is indicated by the 

 fact that the excavations extending outside the boundaries of house i, 

 as well as those on the flat outside of any house sites (excavations i, 

 2), all showed scattered human refuse throughout this layer. Third, 

 that the human detritus found in house i, from a depth of about 24 

 inches to the lowest point of mixture (cache i, 6 feet 3 inches), was 

 due to the nature of the house in question. The floor line (averaging 

 30 inches deep at the center) is some 6 inches below the bottom of 

 the mixed soil outside the house site. This apparently indicates that 

 the house floor had been excavated originally to only about this 

 depth below the then surface of the surrounding soil. Such an in- 

 terpretation of the evidence accounts for the collapsed earth lodge 

 forming a low mound rather than a depression such as occurs where 

 a deeper pit has been dug. It also agrees with the internal evidence 

 of the various excavations already mentioned. 



Unfortunately, nO' accurate data are available for estimating the 

 time element involved in this accumulation of about 12 inches of mixed 

 soil prior and 12 inches of unmixed soil subsequent to the abandon- 

 ment of the site by its original inhabitants. Such a deposition of soil 

 other than by human agency and wind action, must have been due to 

 wash from the low hills to the north and east. Owing to the almost 

 level nature of the treeless flat on which the house is located and to 

 the very gradual slope beyond this to the hills in question, the filling-in 

 process would presumably have been rather slow. The lack of any 

 traces of white contact alone gives the site a minimum age of 350 

 years, but beyond this we must leave to future physiographic research 

 the problem of the actual time involved during its occupation and since 

 its abandonment. 



The floor plan of the house itself is shown in figure 5 and plate 4. 

 figure I. Its square form with rounded corners is unlike any other 

 lodges previously excavated on the Republican River. On the other 

 hand, its very shallow semisubterranean floor, its outer and inner post 

 holes, central fire place, and internal cache pits bear a generic re- 

 semblance to the historic Pawnee lodges of that region previously de- 

 scribed. Unlike the latter sites, however, the floor line of this lodge 

 had been badly broken up and, compared to the Pawnee lodges of 



